My current work in progress:

More on Sea Wool

There were a couple of questions about the Sea Wool socks in the comments last week.

Maggie said:I have a skein of Sea Wool. I have almost started a pair of socks with it numerous times, but it seems to be low on the yardage so I’ve chickened out. It’s being sold as a DK weight, but I don’t agree with that…it’s so airy and when compressed I find that it gets quite fine and thin.
I was wondering if you would disclose the height of your sock cuff and length of the foot, in inches? Just to give me an idea of how far the yarn will go. I’m assuming your circumference is 64 sts.

I would never consider the Sea Wool sock yarn to be DK weight — I got 8 sts/inch with it on a size 0 needle. I made a 64-stitch sock that is 10 inches from toe to heel, and stands 9 inches tall from the bottom of the heel to the top of the cuff. I had enough yarn left over to knit a couple more inches on each sock, had I wanted to.

Marianne Y commented:Your new socks in Marine colorway of Sea Wool are gorgeous! I love that color! Have you worn them yet? Are they comfortable? Are they machine washable?

Well, thank you. I’ve not worn them yet, so can’t comment on their comfort, but they certainly seem nice and soft. They ARE machine washable, but gentle washing is recommended.

Sock Blockers

Every time I post a photo of my completed socks on sock blockers, I get several emails asking where I got them. The two places where I have purchased sock blockers are this eBay store: Chappy’s Fiber Arts and Crafts and The Loopy Ewe.

I have put this information over in the sidebar to cut down on the email traffic. 🙂

New Sock!

As I mentioned last week, I have set aside the Grasshopper Socks to work on at home after I finish the miter sweater. So on Friday, I started another sock for the commute.

This is the first offering from The Loopy Ewe Sock Club. The yarn is a wool/bamboo/nylon blend, from All Things Heather and the colorway is called Skinny Dipping. The pattern is called Summerfield Socks, and is from Wildhorse Farm Designs. The pattern is designed to be knitted top down, but I’m knitting mine toe up.

The yarn is just awesome! Nice little sheen from the bamboo and so soft and nice. It knits up into gorgeous uniform stitches. YUM! The pattern makes a sweet little lacy trellis. I didn’t bother turning the chart upside down because it looks pretty much the same either right-side-up or up-side-down.

The Miter Report

Confession time — I think I knit about ten squares last week. I just couldn’t find my miter mojo. I had 31 squares left to knit on the last sleeve at the start of the weekend. I finished the second sleeve last night.

The sleeve has been wet-blocked and I’m waiting for it to dry. I’ll be able to finish assembling the sweater tomorrow or Tuesday.

The Book Report

The winner in this week’s book give-away is Judie. Judie, I’ve emailed you.

The Lucy Report

On May 12, 2003, my sweet Lucy came to live with me, so yesterday was our fourth Lucy-versary. May we have many more!

Comments

Oh! A very happy Lucy-versary! When my current owner, Nikki-cat, goes to kitty heaven, I want a Lucy-cat (I grew up with Siamese kitties and miss them, but have always thought a ragdoll would be glorious!) That new sock yarn looks Fabulous!

Just a plug for Chappy! I bought a pair of sock blockers with the Rat cut out and mentioned that I’d love a pair with hedgehogs. No sooner said than done! They saw a hedgehog pattern on some fabric and *poof* I have hedgehog sock blockers! NEVER have I had such responsiveness from a vendor! YAY for Chappy’s and YAY for you for introducing me to them.

Summerfield… that’s a good name for a pattern… Would you believe it, I never heard of it before or saw it anywhere else but I knitted a pair of socks with just that pattern… Goes to show how we all (re)invent all the time!
It looks very nice, by the way! And happy Lucy Anniversary, she’s a very cute darling!

meredith and steven gave me flowers and a card. they then sat with me on the sunporch this afternoon whilst I knitted and listened to the phillies lose another game. actually, they SLEPT, but that’s another story…

Happy Lucy-versary to both of you! I love your Lucy pictures and stories. My gray and white kitty, Lizzie and I just celebrated her 6th birthday. She too was a rescue kitty from the local shelter. Thanks for the picture of the Summerfield sock. I too am in the Loopy Ewe club and can’t wait to get started on the club sock. I read your blog everyday and have used your toe-up sock pattern on many socks. Thanks!

hi there:)
since i didnt see a place to email you, ill try here….do you remember FLOR? she had a wonderful blog/site….do u know what happened to her?>
she used to come into a chat i used to go to regularly, but that closed down some years back 🙁
thanx
peace&blessings
mary~

Happy Mommies Day and Happy Lucy-versary! That picture of her laying in a circle is SO precious.

I have a question: When you knit a swatch for socks or round knitting in general do you have to knit the swatch in the round, or can you do it flat? And if your swatch is round how big around should it be?

I have the whiskers and paw prints socks on deck, but I’m worried about getting the gauge right.

Thanks for the link to The Loopy Ewe. I’ve contemplated putting in my first order with them for far too long. The link prompted me to finally do it. Sheri has a good selction of Cherry Tree Hill and Claudia Hand-painted right now.

I did not order sock blockers. Maybe I’ll contact Chappy and ask for a custom motif. I’m finding it difficult to get good sock photos with unsupported socks.

I’ll put in my 2 cents on the swatch in the round question. I swatch in the round for larger projects like sweaters but swatch flat for socks. My logic is socks have negative ease and are small enough that the difference isn’t worth the extra yarn.

Happy Lucy-versary! I had noticed that her ‘bio’ said she came to you in May, and wondered when THE DAY might be.

I have a sock question. I LOVE the new sock heel, btw–it looks so sleek and tidy, and fits so nicely!

Now, the question. Whether I make a regular heel flap or use this ‘new’ method, when I get to the leg part (beginning to knit in the round again) I always have to ‘fudge’ the 2 points where the instep rejoins the heel, to avoid holes.

It almost looks like the 2 halves (heel & instep) become slightly different heights, leaving me one row of stitches with no mate on the other side. This is apparent at both joins, but especially at the 2nd one, when I’ve knit across the instep again. Hope that makes sense.

I can generally close the holes by some means or other (I haven’t settled on one way yet), but…are the holes preventable? I’ve never seen it addressed, so I wonder if it’s just me. If it is just me, please be gentle.

Happy Lucy-versary! What a treat has been to watch her all these years! I’m half in love with her but don’t tell my two cat-princesses that; they would trash my knitting. May there be many more years together.

I got my Loopy Ewe sock club kit this week too. So nice to see the yarn knits up and how the pattern looks as the photo on the pattern itself is not so crystal clear! I may have to bump this kit to the next sock in line for knitting!

Love the look of the Summerfield Sock, and it’s nice to know someone else will be doing it toe-up. I’m curious to know what you will do for the heel. I’m not sure if I will do a flap and EOP or short-row.

Happy Lucy-versary and many more. Her temperment reminds me of my Ella, a tortie we rescued from the shelter. She lost her ear tips to frostbite before we got her but I still tell her how beautiful she is every day! She’s a ‘chirper’.

I have my sea wool socks on today and can attest that they are very comfy! I did the “Bordello” pattern on the label – I think on 2’s? Plenty of yarn with a nice hunk left over. I can’t wait to make more.

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